Hey, I'm from Canada and want to build up a sufficient PC for gaming, photoshop and schoolwork. I have a usable knowledge (not that great) of computers, but would rather have help. I have a budget that caps off at 1000CDN, but hopefully less than 800. So far I have these components in mind, but would like a review on them. (I've been swapping parts, but I don't think there are any incompatibilities) BTW I would like to be able to play TF2, SC2, and possibly Crysis, maximum settings not req'd. AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ (65W) Dual-Core Socket AM2, 2.5GHz, 512KB x2 L2 Cache, 2000MHz HT, 65nm (ADO4800DDBOX) $106.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=013314&cid=CPU.907 NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT / 512MB DDR2 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / DVI / VGA / TV Out / OEM / Video Card $79.99* http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3128204&CatId=1558 Seagate Barracuda (ST3320620A) 7200.10 320GB Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM 16MB Cache (OEM) $83.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=010555&cid=HD.443.399 LiteOn LH-20A1S 20x DVD Writer, SATA, OEM $33.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=012840&cid=CR.184 OCZ (OCZ2P8004GK) DDR2 PC2-6400 Vista Performance Platinum 4GB (2x2048) Kit Dual Channel $104.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=014638&cid=RAM.346.307 Asus M2A-MVP Socket AM2 AMD 480X CrossFire Chipset + ATI SB600 Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533 1394a Firewire $90.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=013744&cid=MB.526 Cooler Master Elite 330 Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB and Audio Ports $48.99 http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2541413&CatId=1509 Ultra / X-Connect V-Series ( XVS) / 500-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / 20/24-Pin / Modular Power Supply $59.97 http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2974584&Sku=ULT33135 K Any advice, help and reviews is greatly appreciated.
Ok. When picking out computer parts ALWAYS make sure everything fits correctly. Your Hard Drive should be SATA 3.0Gb/s and NOT ATA unless you want headaches later down the road. Me personally would reduce the amount of ram to 2Gb and invest more on a power supply or a video card. As far as power supplies are concerned stick with Enermax, Thermaltake, Corsair, and PC Power & Cooling. If you want to play games then I would naturally suggest a HD3850, but as far as cheap card go the Radeon X1950 Pro is far superior to the 8500GT so get that instead. If you are buying the 8500GT, then change your motherboard to something else such as this: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3509639&CatId=2320
Alright thanks for the help AXT,I made some changes acording to your reference and correction of my dumb mistake with serial ATA. So I stretched closer to the limit on my budget and came up with the following: Sapphire ATI RADEON HD 3870 512MB GDDR4 Dual Dual-Link DVI HD Audio Shader Model 4.0 320 Unified Shaders PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card $259.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=016305&cid=999.243.272 Asus M2A-MVP Socket AM2 AMD 480X CrossFire Chipset + ATI SB600 Dual Channel DDR2 800/667/533 1394a Firewire $92.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=013744&cid=MB.526 ThermalTake / PurePower W0129RU / 600-Watt / ATX 2.2 / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / PCI-E Ready / Active PFC / Power Supply $84.99* http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2932372&CatId=1483 AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (65W) Dual-Core Socket AM2, 2.6GHz, 512KB x2 L2 Cache, 2000MHz HT, 65nm (ADO5000DDBOX) $119.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=013314&cid=CPU.907 Seagate Barracuda (ST3250410AS) 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive $74.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=015060&cid=HD.443.877 LiteOn LH-20A1S 20x DVD Writer, SATA, OEM $34.69 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=012840&cid=CR.184 Corsair XMS2 DHX 2048MB Dual Channel PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) $39.97* http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3089875&CatId=2261 Cooler Master Elite 330 Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with Front USB and Audio Ports $48.99 http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2541413&CatId=1509 TOTAL 757CDN Some questions- 1. Is it worth the 10$ to change from the X2 4800 to the X2 5000? 2. Will the HD 3570 perform fine with the power supply and MOBO I have listed? I'd assume it would, but because it's such a high end video card, I'm not sure if it needs something else in the MOBO. 3. Corsair is a reliable RAM producer, right? 4. Is the HD 3850 viable for newer games? Wondering because it only has 256MB of video memory and newer games recommend 512. If so I may end up switching out the 3870 for the 3850 The more advice, comments and help the better. Thanks in advance
Yea the power supply will do fine and will be able to run everything just fine. As far as CPU is concerned you will not gain much by getting a X2 5000. The RAM is good. Corsair RAM is one of the best in the market so you should be fine in that department. As far as video card goes you will be fine using a HD3850 if and only if you keep your resolution below 1400 x 1050. Before making your decisions, however, wait for other people other than myself to give you some advise. Also go to other tech forums and see what people there have to say. Some good ones are tom's hardware, extreme tech, and overclock.net Just do as much research as possible before spending money. Since you are on a tight budged it is harder to give advice. Good Luck
All I can add to this is to say avoid the 8500GT, it is by no means a gaming graphics card, and would be utterly hopeless at running Crysis. The HD3870 will have no trouble though.
you are using PS, so i recomend Vista 64 and 4GB of RAM. i would use the Hd3850 if you gaem under 1440 x 900. anything more and i would either get the 512 version or the 3870. also, i would suggest goign for a Q6600 and an intel P35 chipset mobo. this is becuase you use PS, and PS ultilizes multicore setups.
Alright, so I plan to go with the following(BTW just using photoshop for digital colouring, and the Q6600 is out of my price range for this build) I changed the motherboard to one that has full 16x, 16x crossfire, and went with the 3850. Otherwise its the same. AMD ADO5000DDBOX Processor - 1 x AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ / 2.6 GHz Energy Efficient - Socket AM2 - L2 1 MB ( 2 x 512 KB ) - Box (ADO5000DDBOX/ADO5000CZBOX) $116.39 http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=334457 SAPPHIRE 100216L Radeon HD 3850 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail (100216L) $190.55 http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=351170 Asus M2R32-MVP Socket AM2 ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 + ATI SB600 Chipset Dual-Channel DDR2 533/667/800 8-Channel Audio Gigabit Lan Firewire Dual PCI-Express Graphic Slots Crossfire Ready $128.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=011325&cid=MB.526 Seagate Barracuda (ST3250410AS) 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive $74.99 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=015060&cid=HD.443.877 LiteOn LH-20A1S 20x DVD Writer, SATA, OEM $34.69 http://www.canadacomputers.com/main.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=012840&cid=CR.184 Corsair XMS2 DHX 2048MB Dual Channel PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) $39.97* http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3089875&CatId=2261 ThermalTake / PurePower W0129RU / 600-Watt / ATX 2.2 / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / PCI-E Ready / Active PFC / Power Supply $84.99* http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2932372&CatId=1483 CoolerMaster ELITE RC-330 ATX BLACK CASE RoHS (RC330KKN1) $44.29 http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=351165
That's a reasonably good build, but If you should ever want to go Crossifre (although heaven knows why, it's rubbish) I'd recommend you upgrade the PSU to a better one. Thermaltake Purepower PSUs are fine for low power builds like that, but in multiple GPU setups I'm not sure I'd want to be using one.
Liteon make some good stuff actually. Their quality was a bit suspect in the past but they seem to be improving well. Sony drives are OK now they've merged with NEC, and LG drives are quite good. Samsung drives are pretty naff though, and are to be avoided.
Lite-on maybe good but not at optical drives trust me i know from experience. And Samsung may not be great but i trust them over Lite-on! But its all based on the luck you've had with certain manufacturers. I have 2 LG's and love 'em!
I'm in your boat there, I own two LG drives and they were excellent. I've had no problems with my NEC drive either (before it got starforced) and would happy to buy another of either. One brand I certainly didn't get on with was acer/benq, two of their drives (one under each name, but same drive underneath) both failed after less than 3 weeks of use.
i always buy stuff without thinking properly and i always regret...like i bought a Benq drive...its bad quality...i burn lots and lots of dvd and sometimes when it spins too quick it shakes and make damn loud noise...
Recently? Benq drives I owned in the past were terrible quality, but people keep trying to tell me that's all fixed now and Benq drives are good. You say different?
Ok i shouldn't say Benq is bad...b/c i bought this drive last year...so i didn't know that they've improved... Sorry BenQ!...
Last year still counts as the current tech, so your point is still valid. The drives I had issues with were bought 5 years ago. I meant 'in the last few years' improved, not 'in the last few months' improved
